Birdsters! 'Februrary FIRSTS' Pls. Post Here!

Thank you so much for the happy words, IRIS :) It's hard to be patient, basically creating a relatively suitable habitat from scratch. I know that in time we'll have the lively yard we hope for. Mainly, I'm wanting to attract a little wildlife for our children... so important for them to be "in touch" with the nature God has given us :) But, of course, I don't at all mind watching the little creatures myself :) Take care & thanks again!!!

Hugs :)

Your Quite Welcome! We were fortunate enough to have woods around where we live, But, The woods are on the outer edges, There was No small trees, shrubs or vines in the yard except for a couple shrubs in the front of the house ( That were taken out) and a couple big oak tree's out back, Through the years, I have added more and more, bird and wildlfe attracting plants trees, shrubs, and vines to the yard and each year, I notice more and more different types of birds and wildlife, So, I know what you mean when it comes to patience, It is hard to wait when your anxious for things to grow, Especially when your doing it from scratch!! ~I love your way of thinking with your children! We need more people like you on this planet!

Today I have a February First to report---

Yesterday we had three Turkey Vultures fly above our property and stop in the tall branches of the Ash trees. That's a first for our Backyard...

Other days vultures and raptors fly around our neighborhood and woods, but they have never stopped in our trees...

I am still looking for the elusive owls that I hear at night...and now that I saw the 'Backyard Bird Watch' article about the Boreal Forest Owl Irruption I am keeping my eye out for an exotic.

Have a good (birding) day. t.

http://www.newfs.org/symposia.html

This message was edited Feb 22, 2005 9:10 AM

Hi. Yesterday I saw a sharp-shinned hawk and the Carolina wren I've been hearing (he was eating suet upside down). The sharpie flew into a large pine and I couldn't find him to shoot a pic. Didn't have my camera for the Carolina wren either.

I have a lifetime first! :-) Today while driving back from the cactus and succulent market, I spotted something moving in the field up ahead on the right hand side. It looked sort of colorful and I could tell it was a bird even from far off, so I wanted to slow down and stop the car, but there was traffic behind me and no shoulder....so I compromised on slowing a bit to get a good look as I drove past. Recognized it from my bird book, but had to check the book to get the ID. It was a Lapwing Vanellus vanellus. Since my camera is out of action, here's a link to what it looks like :-) http://www.birds.se/tovip.htm

We also had a lovely Collared Dove http://birds.cornell.edu/crows/images/ECollar-Dove-331a.jpg visit out garden yesterday for a few minutes :-)

-Julie

Julie--how neat that you have a Lifetime First---and it's such an elegant one!

I looked up the Lapwing on eNature and it said once in a while it comes over to North America--mainly if it gets caught up in a windstream---so I guess we are more or less out of luck on this side of the Atlantic--although some lucky someone may have a sighting...

the site said they are 12" and a 'shorebird' if anyone is keeping an eye out!

The collared dove was pretty too...you have such a wonderful 'avian array' in Israel! Thanks for sharing them with us. t.

Good for you, Julie!

Thanks Tabasco and John. Yeah, a foot tall bird might sound like a big one, but I was lucky s/he was in an area of the field relatively close to the road or I would've had a hard time getting a look at him at 50mph! LOL Luckily it was a natural field (uncultivated) where the plant life was very low growing too. I have to drive south west for about 20 minutes to get to the cactus and succulent market and this field was about 5 minutes away from there. My city is out of their range (as listed in a book....and of course, we all know that birds can't read, so I wouldn't be exactly shocked to see one in our garden LOL...especially once the huge duck pond is finished ... but I would be quite pleased :-)

-Julie

Julie, so pleased you got to see a Lapwing. In the two weeks I spent in England after my visit to the Galapagos, I was lucky enough to see several large flocks of Lapwings, which are particularly elegant birds although they are very noisy, and even continue their screaming after dark.
"Thou green-crested lapwing thy screaming forbear,
I charge you disturb not my slumbering fair"
Robert Burns
and
"in the spring the wanton lapwing gets himself another crest.."
Alfred Lord Tennyson

I never got close enough for much of a picture, but I did take this shot of Canada Geese and Lapwings from a hide at the Rutland Water Nature Reserve, a superb place for seeing water birds and waders in England.
Ken

Oh, Ken, how culturally rich you're making DG! Tennyson even :) I loved the addition of a little verse...

BTW, my dove is not widowed. The two of them sat like fat cats in the sun again all afternoon :)

Now, thats good to hear.
Yeah, I like Ken's approach, too! :-)

Are they in the plover family. I would have guessed they were plovers from your photo, Ken. Congrats to both of you for such a special sighting!!!! Just looked them up. In the states, they are "casual in late fall in northeast states and provinces; accidental elsewhere in the east; recorded south to Florida." They are not plovers (charadrius) but for folks like me, they are placed in with the plover page. Loved the Robert Burns quote.

The lapwings Vanellus species, Pluvialis species (golden and grey plovers) and the many Charadrius species (various small plovers including the Killdeer), are all in the Plover family together, the Charadriaceae

Well, how bout that! Thanks for clarification.

;-)

George,

Loved your pic of the common Goldeneye. I live near the Fox river myself. I work in Evanston, so I see all sorts of birdies as they migrate, north or south. Too many for me to identify! April

These are the first house finches I've seen. They must be heading north

Mrs. Finch

Missus Finch, Mr. Finch and the other female

I've had 4 house finches hanging out here all winter... funny

BTW, nice pics :)

We were talking about Lapwings and at lunchtime today I had to slow down and wait while a pair of Masked Lapwings Vanellus miles sauntered across the road in front of me. These are the commonest Australian Lapwing, although not as elegant as the European Lapwing. They are quite common around here and regularly nest in the grounds of the University where I work. I have never managed a photograph of an adult bird, but here is a site with an excellent picture of a Masked Lapwing (formerly known as Spur-winged Plover): http://images.webster-dictionary.org/wiki/9/91/Masked-Lapwing-331.jpg

Aww! What a cutie! BTW, deep down (well not that deep) I am one of those birders who thinks all birds are my children. I would love to see him run across the road in front of me!! I certainly can see why "masked" is a better name than "spur-winged."

Interesting birds you have down there, K...

I think the lapwing is where the 'Phantom of the Opera' costume designer got her ideas.

Ken, thanks for your great feedback! I loved the Burns quote :-)......so perhaps I won't be exactly wishign for them to take up residence in my garden? ROTFL.

We have Plovers here too, but I can only vouche for that by having seen them in the Israeli bird book LOL I've yet to actually see one with my own eyes....but one can always hope :-)

-Julie

Ken, I agree with Boojum - your Masked Lapwing is very cute! Thank you for sharing the story and the link with us! I love learning about birds I previously was unaware of :-)

-Julie

Very interesting thread, and i certainly enjoyed reading all your posts.

This my backyard bird count day for the 18th.

About 50 starlings
200 quail
30 goldfinches
10 English sparrows
35 house finches
1 song sparrow
3 chickadees
5 juncos
1 male ringnecked pheasant


Now that the count days are over, I think spring is just about here. Yesterday there was a robin in the yard. This morning I heard the Say's Phoebe, and there were 3 red-winged blackbirds eating. Today was also our warmest day for some time got up to 51 degrees, but the ground is still frozen. DonnaS

Dang...all I gets is English House Sparrows and Starlings......oh, and a cardinal and nuthatch now and again........april

Lots of good Feb Firsts in the last week--Lapwings, Golden Eye, Vultures, first finches, first robins, phoebe, red-winged bb and lots of others --- Also the February 'Great Backyard Bird Counts'--any more of those to report?

Have we had any first Hummngbirds? First bluebirds? First Orioles? Or will it be next month that we see reports of their arrivals? (I think I'm a little impatient--I don't want the our bird friends coming back into the snow fall we're getting today!)

Am keeping my eye out for the Boreal Owls--I'm sure there are some lurking in Ohio...my 2 pileateds are playing on the tree not six feet from my window as I write--I should ask them if they know any owl friends to invite over--. mmm...

Only four days left to find your February First---Good luck! t.

My first Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, this year and only the second one I've ever seen

Those Lapwings are just lovely...I love these threads...such fun to see all the birds from all over the world.

Julie, I guess I missed it...what happened to your camera?? How frustrating for you, I'm sure

Thanks for asking :-)

My DH broke it (dropped it and whacked the lens against the tile floor, so I'm not at all certain it can even be repaired!). And he's (typically) procrastinating about taking it in to get an estimate of the damage. I'm wavering between (a)throwing my arms up and insisting he give me the car for the day so I can take it to the shop (a long drive away and rather inconvenient schlepping at least one small child along on the trip) and (b) staying firm and making him take it....I mean, he broke it afterall and he did promise to get it there within a week....that week has past and I'm starting to lose patience. But tomorrow starts the weekend, so no point being a nag about it tonight. Must try to impress upon him this weekend how nice it would be to have the thing operational again! grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

-Julie

I finally did get a pic of the "little red bird" - house finch?. He just doesn't want to sit still very long. The weather yesterday was nice. Now it is snowing again.

I saw these open style feeding trays at the hardware store, so had my husband make one for me to try.''Advantages: Better view of birds
Disadvantages: Put out limited amt. of feed or it gets wet and frozen
My Advantage: Neighbors chickens come over and eat the wet/discarded seeds

Each southern storm that comes up here brings a new set of birds. Some of the recent goldfinches look like they are turning color.

Whoops, Wrong Image, gotta save these with something else besides numbers

Se_eds, love your sweet birdies at the feeder. I have the same but I believe your goldfinches are a bit brighter. Salvia, hope you get your camera fixed soon. Ken here's a poem for you from my Valentine's gift from my DBF. This was published in 1907.

Oh forgot one more comment. Floridian, one very stressful day in 1998, I was surrounded by a flock of singing western meadowlarks and I knew all would be well-and it was. It was truly an amazing experience.

Boojum, I love the poem, although to me clover and plover don't rhyme!!!
Following the interest expressed in the lapwings, I have dug out my old pictures of Masked Lapwings and here they are as a sequence. First the nest, little more than a scrape in the meadow, although a few dead grass stems do seem to have been arranged around the eggs:

Another time I chanced on a nest just as the eggs were hatching. One chick is out and dry and fluffy, the second is newly hatched and still damp from inside the egg, and the third is still in the egg:

Back then I held a bird-banding licence and spotting this young Masked Lapwing, just before it could fly, I caught it and put a band on before releasing it. You can see that the flight feathers are very nearly complete and it will be very soon be flying:

boojum, you say you can see why Masked is a better name than Spur-winged. It is a very appropriate name, but when you see the spur as in this picture, you might think both names are appropriate. This adult was trapped by the Victorian Wader-study Group for banding, measurement and release:

Love those baby faces!!!! We have lots of killdeer here that nest on sandy places. No, clover and plover don't rhyme. And I love that we'll never know if this zany poet ever knew... He should have done one on killdeer-plenty of potential silliness there.